WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 338: Despair (2)
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“W-What are you talking about?!”
In response to someone’s question, the survivor clutched that person’s shoulder and vomited blood.
“If Jin Sowoon dies... If Jin Sowoon dies...!!!!”
Tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble.
Foam mixed with blood bubbled from the survivor’s mouth as their body convulsed violently.
Then, all at once, their body stopped moving. Like a wooden doll with its strings cut, they stiffly collapsed to the ground.
“...”
“...”
“...”
A heavy silence settled over the area after that horrifying sequence of events.
Those watching the survivor hardly dared breathe as their gazes slowly shifted, one after another.
‘Hah.’
Heavy eyes turned toward me.
They stared with their mouths tightly shut, their expressions tangled with complicated emotions.
They probably did not even know it themselves: that those emotions contained resentment, reproach, hatred, doubt, killing intent, regret, anger, and denial all mixed together, or that the feelings building inside them could find an outlet and come pouring out at any moment.
‘This is taking a bad turn.’
When people encountered something they could not understand, they desperately searched for a reason.
Any person, meaning, or cause would do.
They needed to attach some kind of explanation to it, or else they would be helplessly consumed by formless fear.
That was why people who spent their entire lives shouting about sweeping away demons and eliminating evil, pursuing the very limits of the righteous path, reacted so fiercely to such absurd nonsense as a divine spirit’s curse.
Before they were martial artists, they were all human, and humans were creatures like that.
If this confusion dragged on, if time passed without it being properly contained, survival would become even harder.
And we absolutely could not let their resentment turn toward me because of false information.
For now, the only way to solve this was to correct the misinformation and determine exactly what was happening.
I had to bring them to their senses quickly...
“Halt!!!”
Fuck, that startled me.
My eardrums nearly burst.
Why was this bald man suddenly shouting...
“What utter nonsense!!!”
While I was dumbstruck and had briefly forgotten what I had been about to say, Ilgak kept unleashing Lion’s Roar.
“For Jin Sowoon to die so that we may live... What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“...”
We may live...?
That was not said.
“What absurd words! How could Jin Sowoon possibly be the cause of this crisis?!”
The cause...?
That was not said either. Why did this bald man keep adding things that were never said?!
“W-Wait, Ilgak...”
“Please remain still, Benefactor Jin!”
Did he just stop my hand with Maitreya Three Thousand Seizing Arts?!
So this was Shaolin Temple’s finest seizing art. What an honor.
“Even Confucius never spoke of strange powers and chaotic spirits. We who practice martial arts also strive each day to overcome the world’s wickedness and disorder, do we not?! And now, human sacrifice!!!”
“...”
Ilgak spoke with even his smooth scalp turned red.
“Good heavens... Human sacrifice... What a barbaric and irrational method! And even if we offered Benefactor Jin as a human sacrifice, do you have any proof that it would save us?!”
“W-Well... maybe it might?”
They had completely lost it.
What the hell was wrong with these people?
“Even if human sacrifice could solve everything!!!”
With a sudden jab, Ilgak pointed at me.
...Who was this bald man pointing at?
“Do you think Benefactor Jin would quietly accept it?! This mad... no, this man! The Black Flame Dragon, who faced the lecturers’ pressure head-on! The man even Black Path thugs give a wide berth! Do you truly think he would meekly become a human sacrifice?!”
Wow, if I had known Ilgak was this good with words, I would have made him my spokesman long ago.
Look at that. The eyes that had been glazed with confusion were now blazing with killing intent.
“Furthermore!!! I will never help offer Benefactor Jin as a human sacrifice! No, I will go further and interfere as much as I can if you try to join forces against him. Such an act goes against the Buddha’s teachings!!!”
“...”
“...”
Silence fell over the area again, but the atmosphere had paradoxically grown heated.
The people who had been looking for an explanation were now considering how to offer me up as a sacrifice.
I looked at Ilgak’s flushed bald head and sighed.
“...Are you done?”
“Benefactor Jin! Do not worry. I will remain by your side and protect you to the very end!”
“I asked if you were done.”
“W-Why are you looking at me like that? What did I do...?”
“Shut up and come here.”
“...”
The bald man’s shoulders drooped.
Now it was time to snap the Academy students Ilgak had stirred up out of it.
I stepped in front of Ilgak and raised both hands over my head.
Clap.
The Academy students flinched at the sound of my clap, filled with internal energy.
“Like this bald man said, is anyone here thinking of offering me up as a sacrifice?”
“...”
Shing.
At the same time, I drew the Scarlet Radiance Sword and poured internal energy into it.
Kyaaaaaaah!
A bloodcurdling scream of unknown origin rang out as red light poured from the center of the blade.
“I have no intention of dying quietly. Choose one. Die to the bastards trying to kill us in this forest, or die by my hand.”
Step.
Shing.
Clang, clang.
As soon as I finished speaking, my unit members stood behind me and drew their weapons.
The killing intent that had pricked at my skin gradually faded, and the Academy students who had stared at me as if they wanted to kill me began avoiding my eyes one by one.
“What are you waiting for? Why are you not coming at me?”
“...”
When I took one step forward, the Academy students took two steps back.
Then a voice came from among them.
“Representative Jin. That is enough. This is not the time for jokes.”
The Academy students moved aside for the speaker, and Jong Chuak walked through the opening.
“You know there is no one here who intends to offer Representative Jin as a human sacrifice.”
That did not seem to be the case.
Their faces had gone red as they turned away. They looked like they wanted to nail me to a stake somehow.
Jong Chuak soon turned around, his gaze sharp.
“How many people affiliated with the Martial Arts Academy would believe something so foolish?!”
At his words, the Academy students began nodding one after another.
Some realized how foolish the thoughts in their heads had been and flushed with embarrassment.
I thought I would have to beat a few of them before they came to their senses, but Jong Chuak brought them back to reason with only a few words.
Still, the sight did not sit well with me.
‘Does communication beyond one’s affiliation only begin after everyone has been ruined?’
It looked like another wall to me.
“Let us rest for now. Everyone is in terrible shape, are they not?”
Jong Chuak was right. It had not even been half a day since the battle ended.
Everyone was too physically and mentally exhausted to see more bloodshed.
“Y-Yes, let’s do that.”
“To be honest, I have been sleepy for a while now.”
“Does anyone have golden wound medicine?!”
The gathered people dispersed one after another.
Just as they had at the Martial Arts Academy, when they came to Mukrim, and during battle, they split into their respective factions and gathered among themselves.
I could not help but laugh at the sight.
“Looks like... we will all die here.”
“What do you mean?”
Eunho still stood with his sword drawn, watching the surroundings warily.
I slowly shook my head.
“It feels like I have seen this before.”
It was a memory from my previous life, not this one.
“...And?”
It was a sight far too familiar to me.
I slowly closed my eyes and answered quietly.
“They all died.”
“...”
No matter how hard I tried to suppress them, those despairing memories came vividly to the surface.
#
After the first survivor appeared, we tried to organize scouting parties again to search around the camp, but there was no need.
“They’re Mount Hua disciples!”
A second group of survivors appeared almost immediately.
“Brother Cho!”
Then a third group of survivors appeared as well.
The survivors who returned afterward did not say that I had to die, but most came back to the camp looking dazed, as if they had lost their minds.
“...Benefactor Jin, are you sure we should not send out scouting parties? We need to confirm whether what the survivors are saying is true.”
The words all the survivors muttered were, “We’re surrounded.”
“The claim that we are surrounded is probably true.”
“...Why are you so sure?”
We had fired a signal flare calling for everyone to gather, but I did not think they could have returned to camp just by seeing it.
If they had guides, they would have gathered before the flare was fired. And without guides, Mukrim was too harsh an environment to navigate by following a signal flare alone.
I pointed at the survivors with my chin.
“Because they came back.”
The Academy students sat there with blank expressions, as though their souls had left them.
Their clothes had become rags, and they had even lost their weapons, which were priceless treasures to martial artists.
Ilgak watched the same sight and tilted his head.
“What does that have to do with being surrounded?”
“Ilgak, have you not experienced a natural formation? Do you think it is possible to make your way through one and find the path without a guide?”
I remembered the Orthodox Society members who could not find the way even with smoke right in front of them.
“The fact that they got here means someone else led them.”
“Led them...? Who could possibly have done that?”
“Who else?”
“...”
“The people who want to kill us.”
This was known as throwing corpses.
Prisoners soaked in demonic qi and killing intent until they lose their minds are returned to the enemy camp, sowing confusion within its ranks.
“Benefactor Jin... I do not understand.”
From Ilgak’s perspective, unable even to imagine the enemy’s identity, it would be impossible to understand no matter how hard he tried.
At the foundation of his way of thinking was something called common sense.
He could not understand what it meant to take the trouble of returning someone to the enemy camp, only to kill them a second time.
I gestured around us.
“You do not need to understand. Look over there.”
The Academy students already gathered at the camp had only briefly celebrated surviving last night’s ambush before seeing the condition of the returning survivors and realizing how hopeless their situation was.
“Sniff... Sob.”
The people who had once carried themselves with lofty pride cried like children.
“This is mine! Give it back now!”
“That’s communal property... Leave it alone!”
They had become so desperate for basic necessities that they did not hesitate to draw blades against each other.
“W-We can survive, right? Right? The Martial Alliance will protect us... won’t they?”
People who had once feared nothing stayed awake through the night, unable to overcome their anxiety.
“Only one day has passed since the ambush, and everyone is already this much of a mess. What do you think? Will we not be easier to kill in a few days?”
“...”
If a few more days passed in this state, more people would fall into delirium, and blades would surely be drawn among them.
Great physical attainment did not guarantee a sound mind.
‘Especially for Academy students who skipped several stages of training through their sect’s investment.’
They had been selected for their exceptional aptitude, given Marrow Cleansing and all kinds of spiritual medicine, and easily reached great attainments for relatively little effort.
Yet their minds were no sturdier than a stone tower stacked in a single line.
And a precarious stone tower like that could collapse from the smallest shock.
“We need to move.”
“...Where?”
“Where else? We need to get out of Mukrim.”
“...But it will not be easy to make everyone move. Besides, many people want to wait for the lecturers.”
The same argument as before.
But I knew.
The lecturers probably would not return.
If they were alive, they would have come back to the camp.
And even if they were trying to seek help outside, would they not have left at least a few people here?
Waiting for people who would never come and wasting time meant throwing away even the remaining chance of survival.
“We could all die like this.”
After hesitating for a moment, Ilgak finally spoke.
“...Even so, we need time to treat the injured. We cannot carry everyone on our backs.”
“...”
Instead of answering, I looked at my unit members.
They were in far better condition than the other Academy students.
Within Mukrim, they would probably display greater skill than the Orthodox Society members.
Thinking back to the Martial World Regular Examination, I began calculating how to escape with only them.
The many tactics used by special units that fought the Demonic Cult.
I analyzed their successes and failures, calculating the chances that my unit members could break through the Demonic Cult’s encirclement.
As I sank into my thoughts, every sound around me faded away.
“...Benefactor.”
Endless calculations raced through my mind.
But.
Failure, failure, failure, failure.
Every simulated operation I devised sent out a warning.
“...Benefactor Jin!”
I briefly lifted my head and looked at the noisy bald man.
“...I know. I know we cannot move right away. Still, we need to move as quickly as possible...”
Then.
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
Ilgak must have felt it too, because his eyes widened.
“!!!”
“!!!”
An ominous sensation slowly seeped around our feet, like a thin mist spreading over the ground.
It was none other than killing intent.
“B-Benefactor Jin, this is...”
There was only one thing this kind of environmental change could mean.
“I-Isn’t this Heavenly Net and Earthly Web?!”
Footnotes:
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